Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Every day, hospitals across Long Island and around the country rely on a steady supply of donated blood to care for trauma victims, cancer patients, premature infants, people undergoing surgery and those living with chronic blood disorders. When blood is needed, there is no time to wait for donors to come forward. The blood must already be on the shelves.
The stakes are high, because A.I. is the first technology in a long time that can favor the little guy. For most of the last century, size was destiny. A big company could afford an IT department, in-house lawyers, a finance team and analysts poring over its data, and the corner store could not.
Competency-based learning isn’t new territory for our schools. In many respects, it’s already woven into our strongest instructional practices. Our 11th-graders take on a Performance-Based Assessment Task, an assignment that pushes them to build and deliver a coherent argument while adjusting tone, structure and evidence to fit their audience and purpose.
What if the aspiration gap isn’t about students dreaming too small, but about us failing to show them the bridge between where they are and where they could be? In our district, we’re refusing to accept that a child’s Zip code, current performance or starting point should determine their ceiling.
Long Islanders pay among the highest utility rates in the nation, and the cost of power has risen 20 percent since January. This has pushed the cost of living even higher, and made it more difficult to get by. Inconsistent and partisan energy policies, repeated price hikes by utility companies and cuts to assistance programs have sent utility bills soaring. I’m doing everything I can in Congress to lower these costs.
Through their tireless advocacy, the World Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) was established in 2011 and became a lifeline for thousands to receive care at no cost.
Student debt makes the American dream unattainable, or, at best, greatly deferred. Gallup reports that 71 percent of student borrowers delay major life milestones — homeownership, parenthood, starting a business, retirement — because of their debt. On Long Island, those delays have a geographic consequence: 22 percent of residents between ages 25 and 34 have left the region over the past eight years. Student debt and housing costs are inseparable drivers of that exodus.
Before becoming a photo of a scowling politician, paper has a complicated history. Somewhere there were trees — or recycled fibers that began as trees. There was harvesting, transportation, pulping, washing, processing and papermaking. There was lots of water. There was energy. There were chemicals involved in processing, bleaching and coating. There were huge vats of ink. There was printing and cutting and bundling.
Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Malverne is bringing back food from local restaurants and the Knights of Columbus for its annual weekend bazaar, featuring carnival rides and live music.
Malverne High School earned the 2025-26 NYSPHSAA School of Excellence designation after 17 varsity teams qualified for Scholar-Athlete recognition.
The West Hempstead Community Scholarship Fund collected more than 1,805 pounds of donated clothing Oct. 4 to help raise money for scholarships for local graduating seniors.
